the mythic self-destruction of the democratic party

i am getting incredibly pissed-off at the democratic party. not that long ago, it was popular notion that the democrats were a shoe-in for the white house this year as long as we didn’t implode. wow. how shocking. we’re imploding. bless the left and all, but CAN’T WE FREAKING GET IT TOGETHER?????

i read the other day that something like 20% of both Hillary and Barack supporters would NOT vote for the other candidate if they get the nomination. WTF? and yet, i can see it. rewind back just a few months, even back to december, and my person opinion was, “well, i really like Obama. i think i’ll vote for him in the primary. however, if hillary took the nomination i think she would make excellent policy decisions while in office so of course i would back her.” now my opinion is, “if hillary gets the nomination i’ll vote for her but i’m not excited about it”.

at least i’m still planning to VOTE. i’ve heard people say that at this point they would rather not vote. excuse me? suddenly the air has been let out of the urgency of electing a president that doesn’t want to be in Iraq forever. suddenly all of the great ideas that the dems have to try to usher the US into a conversation and maybe even legislation to provide health care, decent education, immigration reform that treats immigrants like human beings, the list goes on…it’s all apparently no big deal.

and i have to say, i do largely blame hillary for this. maureen dowd did a great job of putting in her column today something i have been thinking for weeks – that hillary seems to think that if she can’t get the nomination, she’ll just take Obama down with her. you know, make him un-electable. that’ll show those stupid democrats for not recognizing that she has a RIGHT to the nomination.

politics can get nasty, but trying to take down a fellow democrat? hillary’s not an idiot – she has to know that she’s potentially seriously hurting Obama if he gets the nomination, and she’s hurting herself too.

i can just see it now…republicans have a field day with this fight through the summer, and then take the white house in november. dammit.

2 Responses to “the mythic self-destruction of the democratic party”

Well I am one of those people that refuses to vote for Hillary and if she gets the nomination, yes, I will jump ship.

I think our politics need to be less about a party and more about the candidate. I’m really not a hardcore “Liberal” anyway. I’m a libertarian by most standards, but when it comes right down to it, I don’t fit into any party because I’m actually conservative on a lot of issues (like fiscal ones) while still being liberal on almost all social issues (like abortion and gay marriage.) I hate that parties try to pidgeonhole people. I’m certainly not one for pidgeonholing, you know that. 🙂 I once went to a get-together for a left-wing organization and because my view on one big issue (at the time) was different, I literally thought I was going to get run out of the party. I hate that even some liberals can’t handle independant thought. To me, all parties are the same and I dislike them intensely. I also dislike that the democrats have as little as a backbone as the republicans do. Let’s not forget that it took more than just the republican vote to go to war, and we happen to still be over there, so it’s not like anyone has taken a LOT of action.

The bottom line is, I don’t trust politicians, and I generally think they are all liars and hypocrites. This includes Barack, Hillary, and Johnnie Boy. I am frequently relegated to picking the less of several evil, lying, corporate-ass-kissing candidates. In this case, my choice is Obama, McCain, Clinton, in order of who I trust the most to the least, although I really don’t trust any of them.

So, while I’m definitely still voting, I don’t feel bad about switching parties. The parties have put me in a position where I feel absolutely no loyalty to any of them. It is a idfferent subject if the republican candidate is someone like we have now, but then, it still doesn’t have to do with the party; more the candidate. My theory is that no one gets jack shit done in office anyway so why does it really matter? They all have to learn to compromise (especially right now) so I’m voting for the person who can do that the best.

But in all actuality, i’d love to see Arnold Schwarzenegger running. 🙂

that WAS a long freaking comment 🙂 it WAS significant enough to post on your own blog. i think you and i could have a very very long discussion on politics (oooh…let’s start a big family discussion over labor day!).

i’m much more liberal than you, ‘line, but i think in ways of thinking about the system we’re often on the same page. i’m always going to go dem, because they are most in line (of the two major parties) with what i believe. and with this election, i really want and need to vote for a president that has not vowed to stay in iraq for 100 years if necessary. nor do i think “out as fast as humanly possible” is the right approach, but more on that later…

i’m not a fan of the two party system, because it’s one or the other and they are not that far apart anyway. i’m really further left than mainstream dems.

and since i view my choice as being between the two democrats, why the tearing down? THAT is why nothing ever gets done…it all boils down to infighting. argh. i want to post more here but don’t have time…but i want to talk to you more about this very soon. i’ll also post up a very interesting article in a bit about fiscal responsibility, which makes some excellent points that you and i are in disagreement about 🙂